Editor's Note: On the
political trail one week before pivotal congressional elections,

George W. Bush is looking for a winning formulation for Republicans.
Having jettisoned "stay the course" in Iraq, Bush is redefining his
message by arguing that a Democratic victory means "the terrorists win
and America loses."

In this
guest essay, the Independent Institute's Ivan Eland suggests that Americans who
see the Iraq War as a disaster for the nation should get into this game
of clever catch phrases:

P

resident
Bush and Karl Rove realize they are losing the pre-election public
relations battle with the Democrats over the war in Iraq.

Rove, the President’s political ace, didn’t think the American people
could intellectually process more than three words. So he cleverly tried
to define the President’s position on the war as “stay the course” and
paint the Democrats as advocating a policy of “cut and run.”

Unfortunately, Iraqis don’t follow Washington’s rules of spin. In
fact, lately they haven’t been following many rules at all. The recent
escalation of violence in Iraq and an upsurge in U.S. military deaths
has made the “stay the course” mantra appear out of touch with reality.

The Democrats were scoring more points against the Republicans by
attacking this empty slogan than the Republicans were by using the
equally vacuous phrase “cut and run” against the Democrats.

To the President, this dangerous pre-election problem meant that it
was time for change—not in Iraq policy (at least not before the
election), but a change in how to spin the war.

But the President and Mr. Rove are at a loss for another easy
three-word phrase to describe their alleged flexibility. The President
said that he would not use “stay the course” anymore because people were
misperceiving this phrase to mean that U.S. policy in Iraq was stagnant
in the face of intensified violence and mayhem.

He argued that the administration is always changing its tactics in
the face of morphing threats in Iraq. However, I have news for the
President, which Mr. Rove would probably corroborate: The three-word
slogan “adjusting our tactics” is a political loser.

Democrats, anti-war libertarians, and others making up the two-thirds
of Americans who disapprove of the war should leap into this phraseology
vacuum. We should label President Bush’s Iraq policy or its effects
before he and Mr. Rove dream up another demagogic phrase to attempt to
hide the policy’s failure.

If we’re really ambitious, we could even come up with our own slogan
for a viable solution (if there are any left at this late date). Here
are some that have bubbled to the surface:

As my final salvo, unlike the Bush administration’s vague (some would
say non-existent), “deer caught in the headlights” exit strategy for
Iraq, I will be very specific in my three-word policy prescription: “Get
Out Now.”

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